WHAT is mentals notepad?
space for the mind to wander.
So little do we have time for a good think.
Or stillness for our brain to simply be.
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"taking it all in" pairs well with a notepad...
Listening for thoughts, learnings, and insights...
as a starting point for Discovering something new
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MUSIC AS Therapy
Music is what’s going to get us through this; to recover and build anew. And why not? Music is a staple in cultures around the world and impacts how we live in the world perhaps more than any other art form today.
MUSIC FOR COMMUNITY
Everyone serves a unique purpose in a collaborative environment. There are qualities in music that seemingly amplify humans’ feelings of togetherness and collaboration, both in making music and enjoying it together with others.
CREATIVITY AND MENTAL ILLNESS
Creativity is the propellent artists use to create something special, maybe even magical at times, and can activate the senses in ways otherwise unimaginable (but also, perhaps in other ways not as desirable).
SUPPLEMENTAL CREATIVITY
To simply ~create something~ that is also shared on any level is an incredibly difficult undertaking, especially when paired with external pressure. Where do we turn?
DEMOCRATIZING THE ARtist
Are you an artist? It’s a simple enough question, but for some, it’s not as easy an answer. To bestow such a distinction of artist upon oneself can feel presumptuous and perhaps even inauthentic. So how do we get there?
Some more background
This writing exercise came about in response to my own personal experience with mental illness. My first panic attack was on October 28, 2018. It seems overly dramatic to declare that my entire life changed on this day, but the reality is, it did. I began to explore what anxiety (and mental illness, more broadly) really meant…and haven’t really stopped.
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Needless to say, there’s an endless well to draw from.
Creativity is what I’ve grown most interested in over the years, and how it relates to mental health. Working with talented creative people across multiple disciplines - musicians, copywriters, graphic designers, and bartenders, to name a few - I've both listened and learned. Thinking about the mind and how it works is a delightful journey of insightful discoveries that I'm occasionally compelled to write about. The intention of these essays is to present a curious, but accurate, exploration around various topics related to how the mind works. It's not scientifically-reviewed, and only previously reviewed by a few generous friends and family, but my sources are listed as starting points for future discovery.
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Please do not hesitate to reach out with feedback or if there is any misrepresented information (or if you liked the piece and want to discuss further), and I’ll update or remove.